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Did you attend the ZPZ show at the Variety Playhouse in Atlanta?

Dweezil and the band love reading your reviews.

Please do not post in this thread if you did not attend the show.

Mikey
Zappa.com Webmeister

Great show last night. I had this show on my calendar since it was annouced and it didn't diappoint. Lots of great songs, some I knew and some I didn't. Very well balanced setlist to accomplish the goal of introducing the music to more people, not just a greatest hits set. The Variety Playhouse installed acoustic baffles which really helped the sound. It was a noticable difference from the last few shows there. Everyone on stage has talent to spare and it was treat to see each one shine during the night. The change up in the arrangements added to the experience and I walked away with a better appreciation of not only Franks music but also the musicians on stage last night. Thank you for a great show and I look forward to the next show.

Last night was the 4th time I've caught ZPZ - another outstanding performance, as has become customary. One complaint soundwise - the bass was too heavy, at least where we were standing in the middle of the front section. The whole place shook when Pete tugged bass strings hard or even with Ben hitting some low notes. I don't think the soundman was aware of it.

Highlights for me included Black Napkins, the Yellow Snow Medley, a short section of Black Page, Outside Now, Apostrophe and encore RDNZL. But I've always dug the instrumental pieces the most. Never really enjoyed the the scatalogical & homoerotic vocals, even as the music to go with these pieces is astounding. Having said that, Ben was damn good - almost like a white Napoleon Murphy Brock - very soulful and looked like he was having a great time.

In an entire band of top-notch musicians, the Billy Hulting/Joe Travers percussion section stands out as one of the best you can possibly see in live performance. We'll be back...

This was my first time seeing ZPZ, thought I'd join the board so I could share my thoughts on the show. I had resisted seeing them the last couple times they've visited Atlanta mostly because of the ticket price, but after last night I want to make the effort to see them every time they come through here. The whole band was solid as hell, every member impressed me with their playing at one point or another. In particular I most enjoyed Dweezil's guitar playing, Scheila's work on the sax, and Ben's vocals. I arrived about 5 or 10 minutes after the band started because I had a late class that night, but here's what I knew of the setlist otherwise (some may be wrong or out of order)...

Keep It Greasy
Broken Hearts Are For Assholes
Peaches en Regalia
Don't Eat The Yellow Snow
St. Alfonzo's Pancake Breakfast
Father O'Blivion
You Didn't Try To Call Me
Ms. Pinky
Wonderful Wino
Apostrophe
Catholic Girls
Crew Slut
Outside Now
Eat That Question (had been requested by someone in the audience several times throughout the show)

Encore
Cosmik Debris
Redunzel
Babbette ?
Willie The Pimp
Muffin Man (the last song was up for a vote between San Ber'dino, Willie, and Muffin Man and the audience got them to play the latter two. Briefly before Willie they played about 10 or 20 seconds worth of the band playing Muffin Man while Dweezil played Willie over it).

Great show. My 1st time seeing the band live and in person.
Good mix of songs, most of which I knew. Was hoping to hear some tunes like Uncle Remus, Maybe you should stay with yo mama, Drowning witch, Wild Love, and Flakes...but I understand that with such a vast catalogue of music to choose from, we all can't always hear everything we want. I was glad to hear "Broken Hearts are for assholes"...that was cool. Maybe one day they will release another volume of the dvd zpz, with a totally different set of songs.
I am also a musician but I am amazed at how these phenomenal players could memorize these pieces. I doubt I could remember all the changes in 2 songs, much less a whole set.

That being said, from a technical perspective, the show's sound was good with a couple of exceptions. I thought Sheila's vocal mic was too low the whole night. Also, on some of the more instrumentally dynamic songs, Ben's mic was as well. Whenever you go to a live show, if there's anything that is consistently mized too low it's always vocals....no difference here tonight...although they were cool for the most part.This was my 1st time seeing Ben, and he does a really good job of invoking a good fusion between napoleon, Frank, and Ike kind of rolled into one soulful dude.

I hope one day they have a true anniversary show, which would feature Dweezil along with these great players and have a large roster of Zappa alumni come in. I haven't seen Ike Willis, George Duke, or some of the other major players come back for any shows yet...or even really talk about their time with Zappa, particularly george duke. Does anyone know if there is some kind of riff between the Zappa family and him? Anyway, great great show as usual...I would see this band 7 nights a week if I could.

Also my fourth trip to see this incredible band! NYC, Boston, Atlanta and back to Atlanta. I have to agree with Phunkit's review 100%. One highlight was seeing Black Napkins twice in one day. We went for the sound check tix and found it pretty interesting. If you can do it, it helps the band and you get a really nice poster too. An official Zappa fetish item if you will. You go in and see the band doing sound check for 30-40 minutes and you've still got time for a beer before the show. The drum work and percussion on Outside Now was great last night! My first time seeing young Ben. Doin' a great job there Ben! Best song of the nite for me- You Didn't Try To Call Me. Dweezil says "We've gotta a woman in our band..." Boy Howdy you do! Great vocal work. Try to take someone to the show who does not know Frank's music. They will thank you so much! This is so much fun for me and my wife. I sure hope you can get to Nashville some day. Cool runnings Zappa Plays Zappa. We had a great time. What an impressive band.
PS- I already had the FZ Philly '76 CD but wanted to say thanks Joe. It really is an incredible concert. This is a CD all Zappa fans need. Go vaultmeister go!

Edenrage asks about Zappa alumni. I saw Ike with Project Object a few years ago, no idea what he's currently up to. As for George Duke, I've never heard of any rift - my guess is that he stays quite busy with his own projects.

Duke included covers of "Echinda's Arf" and "Uncle Remus" on his 1975 album "The Aura Will Prevail", for curious listeners out there. I think the Zappa bands that included Duke (roughly '70 - '75) were some of the best & funkiest Zappa ever put together. This period also coincides with many of the stunningly difficult instrumental pieces - "Don't You Ever Wash That Thing?", "Approximate", RDNZL, etc. Warner Brothers listed that last song as "Redunzl" on Orchestral Favorites, which is the way Dweezil pronounced it last night. The title apparently comes from the gear selections on an automatic transmission, with a "Z" substituted for the "2", and the original title as RNDZL instead of RDNZL.

I'm also astounded that ZPZ can play these tunes from memory - even the simpler songs contain complex twists.

Another incredible performance by the entire ZPZ ensemble. My 8th time seeing this band and have yet to be anything less than blown away.From the first notes of Black Napkins to the final strains of Muffin Man, this was nothing short of Zapperfection. My personal thanks to DZ and the band for granting my request for Eat that Question. I sincerely thank you. I brought my nephew to the show he had never listened much to Franks music, but I couldn't wipe the smile off his face all the way home. A new Zappafreak is born!! If someone could post the entire setlist I would appreciate it. The only down side to this show is now I have to wait another year for ZPZ to return. Again thank you to the band for keeping this music alive.

Fantastic show!

I had never listened to Zappa before (forgive me, I'm only 24... that's my excuse) but I decided to join my boyfriend for this show, thinking "He named his kid Dweezil? This could be interesting." I was absolutely blown away! I can't think of a better way to have been introduced to this music. I left the show feeling like I had a million more neurons firing in my brain that I had never even used before!

Regarding RDNZL:
The title DOES NOT come from the gear selections on an automatic transmission, with a "Z" substituted for the "2", and the original title as RNDZL instead of RDNZL. I always thought that as well, until the Aspen show 11/25/09 , at which time Dweezil explained the origin of the song before they played it. I have forgotten part of the explanation, but it had something to do with a cross between Rapunzul (some type of reference to the long hair, I believe) and something else... hopefully someone will refresh the memory here?

Redunzl huh? OK. I'd read the gearshift thing somewhere but if Dweezil said otherwise, he'd know. No matter what the naming story, another incredible piece of music... ...almost dizzying...

This is the first time I've seen Dweezil and the ZPZ ensemble... and it did not disappoint.

I've caught most of Project/Object's Atlanta shows and have always enjoyed the hell out of them, but ZPZ has an extra layer of instrumentation (and a slightly different setlist) that makes for a somewhat different experience. Whatever. The real point is, having seen FZ perform several times (the first in 1973), I can say that this is a pretty good re-creation of the Zappa Experience.

Here's the set list, best as I could recall...

* Black Napkins
* T’Mershi Duween
* Keep It Greasey
* Broken Hearts Are For Assholes
* Jones Crusher
* Peaches En Regalia
* Don’t Eat The Yellow Snow/Saint Alfonzo’s Pancake Breakfast
* You Didn’t Try To Call Me
* Road Ladies
* Miss Pinky
* Wino Man
* Catholic Girls
* Crew Slut
* Outside Now
* Eat That Question
* Cosmik Debris
* RDNZL
* Willie the Pimp
* Muffin Man

The last three made up the encore. As a treat, we got to hear both Willie the Pimp and Muffin Man (San Ber'dino was the other option, but not as popular with the audience).

If you are unfamiliar with these tunes (I expect nobody who posts on this forum is), it’s hard to explain how technically complex most of them are - how many different musical styles, genres, and time signatures get crammed in to a single song - and how much fun it is to hear them live, with spleen-homogenizing bass notes rattling the fillings in your back teeth.

I love this stuff... and the audience at last night’s show - a mixed bag of greying Baby Boomers, twenty- and thirty-somethings, and even some barely postpubescent teens - did too. It’s nice to know that a new generation is not only performing Frank’s music, but enjoying it as well. Kinda brings a tear to my eye...

Thanks for the setlist Elisson, although I am positive that Cosmik Debris was the first song of the encore.

Absolutely incredible show, quite possibly the best show I have been to since 1977 Frank and Captain beefheart. Dweezil has obviously worked his butt off to get the right sound and timing. The entire band seem heavily dedicated and passionate about the music.
I really didn't expect the minimal band member count to sound like a twenty member band. Incredible talent and excellent choices of band members really made all the difference. I even took my 22yr old son to the show and he had a great time. Dweezil is so humble and literally spent over an hour talking with fans and signing autographs. It was a small venue but that made it even more special.
Outstanding job by all band members. I am so glad that dweezil is maintaining the the zappa ledgend and wish him and all others involved the very best of luck and health. With any luck I myself still might move to Montana Soon, I always wanted to grow a healthy crop of dental floss and ride a pygme pony. And yes I have a pair of zircon encrusted tweezerz. Thanks Dweezil and thanks to those who tirelessly maintain Zappa .com

So long and thanks for the Muffin.
Jimi Witter...

This was my 4th ZPZ show. It is hard to believe but each one seems to be getting better and better. The set list was excellent and the band was outstanding. Some of the transitions between songs were so flawless that it was almost incomprehensible. Nobody has posted a comment about the audience. They were very appreciative and supportive of the band. It was fun to be a part of dynamic interaction with the band by providing resounding applause when appropriate. The generous support of the performance will hopefully encourage the band to visit us again in the future.

Somebody mentioned acoustic baffles at the Variety. We sat in the balcony and were amazed at the quality of sound. What a fabulous experience. Thanks Dweezel and band!

Thank you to the folks who posted the set list. Some of the songs were new to me. RDNZL was a real treat.